Ministry collects samples of water that turned orange

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) has collected water samples from a site near Simaisma Beach (for women), after a video online showed that the water had turned orange.

In a post on social media, the ministry said it had received a video note via Twitter from citizen Mohamed Saleh al-Mohannadi, in which he said the colour of water in one of the waterholes near Simaisma Beach (for women) had recently - and "remarkably" - changed to orange.

The MoECC, represented by the Environmental Monitoring and Laboratory Department, "responded quickly to a citizen's report on the second day of Eid al-Fitr about the presence of an orange water pool in the Simaisma area". Accordingly, the department’s water quality monitoring team has collected samples from the site, which will be analysed and a report prepared on the change in water colour change in co-ordination and co-operation with the departments and authorities concerned.The necessary measures will be taken as soon as possible after confirming the source of the colour or if it has any effects on public health, the ministry added.